Forty years ago, I travelled to Medellin, Colombia with my father, carrying with me a cassette player and a handful of cassettes. Among them was a Jimi Hendrix tape. Playing it for the kids there, one enthusiastically related; "Ah! Yes! Cha cha cha!" Not even "rock and roll!", but 'cha cha cha'... (??!) That really clued me in on a very unexpectedly wide cultural chasm, albeit bridged nonetheless. Mostly.
    This came to mind as I learned tonight of 'Afghan Star'... -Only I was the one figuratively saying 'Ah! Yes! Cha cha cha!'...

After 30 years of war and Taliban-rule, pop culture has returned to Afghanistan. Afghan Star - a Pop Idol-style TV series – is searching the country for the next generation of music stars. Over 2000 people are auditioning and even three women have come forward to try their luck. The organizers, Tolo TV, believe with this programme they can 'move people from guns to music'.
    But in a troubled country like Afghanistan, even music is controversial. Considered sacrilegious by the Mujahiddeen and outright banned by the Taliban (1996-2001), music has come to symbolize freedom for the youth. While the conflict still rages many of those taking part are literally risking their lives.
    But the old guard warlords and religious elite have more to worry about than just music. Millions of people watch the show (11 mn watched the final – a third of the country) and vote by SMS from their cell phone for their favourite singers. For many, this is the first time they have encountered democracy: one man or one women equals one vote. All - the different genders, ethnic groups, age sectors - are equal. This is a highly radical idea in a country still essentially based on a male-dominated tribal elder system. For the first time young people, ethnic minorities and women have an arena in which to shine. And at last, the people are allowed to vote for who they want.

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see also:
http://www.afghanstar.tv/

A Talent-Show Tonic for a War-Weary Land
By STEPHEN HOLDEN
Published: June 26, 2009

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In "Afghan Star," Havana Marking's engrossing documentary, suspense surrounds a talent competition that becomes a national obsession, lending a steady narrative drive to this portrait of an "American Idol"-style television show in Afghanistan. The excitement is more than a matter of who will win. The movie uses the talent show "Afghan Star" as a prism through which to examine the fragmented tribal culture of Afghanistan as reflected in the backgrounds of four finalists (two of them women) and the public responses to their performances.

"Afghan Star" subverts the cliché image of Afghanistan as a nation of intractably primitive, superstitious tribespeople who have little in common with Westerners. Most of the Afghans in the film speak decent English, and the kind of hysteria kicked up by the show is identical to the hoopla surrounding "American Idol." The popularity of "Afghan Star" among the country's youth is presented as a hopeful sign that Afghanistan is ready to exchange "guns for music," to quote one talking head.

During much of the repressive Taliban rule, music, dance and television were banned in Afghanistan. And the film makes clear that in many places outside the more liberal stronghold of Kabul, Islamic fundamentalist strictures still apply. The documentary's collective voices suggest the country is profoundly war weary after enduring 30 years of strife originating from inside and outside its borders.

The most intriguing contestant, Setara Hussainzada, is a beautiful, defiant young woman from Herat in her early 20s who is made up like a Bollywood star before appearing on the show. During her climatic performance, she flouts taboos by letting her head scarf slip and doing a brief little dance. She is not surprised, she says, when her performance elicits death threats; she is accustomed to living with fear.

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